This post contains spoilers for the game Zelda: Majora’s Mask (3D) and the movie Groundhog Day. If you haven’t played the game or watched the movie, you really should.

In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays an a**hole tv weather man stuck in a time-loop, forced to repeat the same day over and over again. He eventually breaks free, basically by realizing that since he repeats the same day time and time again, and thus has the ability to know everything there is to know about anyone in the small town in which is he is forced to roam, he has the ability to learn all that’s needed for him to help everyone have an as good day as possible. In the end he tries to create ”the perfect day”.

In Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (and the old N64 version) Link is forced to relive the same three days over and over again. As I play the game I help a lot of people with different things and I am rewarded in various ways, mostly with ”pieces of hearts” or masks. (Most of the helping of these people is done in ”side quests”. Not essential to the completion of the game.) The people I help are happy but once time resets their perils are back. I don’t need to help them again since I’ve already got what I need, but as I immerse myself in the game I have a hard time not feeling sorry for them as their problems come back.

As I think I’m getting closer to the end of the game I’ve gotten the idea to try and create a ”Perfect Day”, or more like three perfect days, for the inhabitants of Thermina. It will likely not change anything about the ending of the game but I will feel accomplished and happy if I managed to do it. The idea is to help as many people as possible with whatever I’ve helped them with in past run-throughs, before I finally head into the Clock Tower and whack Skull Kid.1 I know I will not be able to help every single person in the game in need of help, in a single run-through of the three days. I’ll have to make some prioritization.2

I’m currently in the middle of a trial run for this. In previous rounds I have finished all four temples so technically I could head for Skull Kid right now and finish the game. Still, I’d like to help some more people first and hopefully add them to my list of participants in the ”Perfect Round”. This round I’m trying to help the star-crossed lovers Anju and Kafei by retrieving the Sun Mask that the thief stole from Kafei. This is a quest that I have not completed before.

For this round I’ve made the following list of things to do and people to help. (Checkmarks indicate what’s already done this far in this round, around midday of the first day.)

People to help

Anju and Kafei

Save Romani from the cow-sucking space aliens.

Protect Cremia(?), Romani’s sister, on her route to Clocktown.

Complete the full trading of Business Scrubs’ trading lots.

Protect the old lady carrying bombs through North Clock Town at night.

Help the girl whose dad’s been turned into a Gibdo by removing the spell from him.

Things to do

Finish Woodfall Temple, thereby helping the Deku and the Monkeys. ✓

Finish Snowhead Temple. thereby helping the Goron.

I think facing Skull Kid is the way I’ll take the game to an end, but I don’t know for sure. ↩

Perhaps a more skilled player than me could actually help every single person in need of help in one run-through. Perhaps not. ↩